This invention relates to dog exercise apparatus and methods.
It is known to exercise a dog by throwing items for the dog to fetch and bring back. This method of exercise has several disadvantages under some circumstances, such as for example: (1) some persons have difficulty repeatedly throwing an item any substantial distance for the dog to retrieve; (2) retrieving the item from the dog after the dog has retrieved it can cause delay or force the person exercising the dog to get saliva on his or her hands from a wet item; and (3) if more than one item is needed such as for example when it is desired to throw another item before retrieving the last item thrown, the person exercising the dog must have something in which to carry both items.
Throwing devices are known for throwing objects with some mechanical advantage to enable ease in throwing. Prior art throwing apparatuses include slings having an elastic member with a pouch on it. The item being thrown is temporarily held in the pouch and the pouch and item are pulled back, stretching the elastic member, and released to throw the item.
The prior art slings have several disadvantages, such as: (1) if they are used to throw something such as an item for a dog to retrieve, the item must still be picked up and may still be wet with saliva; (2) the sling may be used by children or the like to throw dangerous projectiles; and (3) some such slings are not well designed for efficiency in throwing.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for exercising a dog.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel method for exercising a dog that does not require the handling of items covered with saliva.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a novel method for exercising dogs which can be tailored for certain types of items to be thrown such as tennis balls or the like.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide an improved sling shot designed for convenience of use.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a sling or throwing device which includes a convenient storage compartment for multiple items that are to be thrown and particularly a storage compartment in which the stored items may dry such as a storage compartment in which balls retrieved by a dog may dry.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide a throwing device which is designed to limit the items being thrown and exclude, for example, dangerous sharp projectiles.
In accordance with the above and further objects of the invention, a throwing apparatus is provided for throwing balls or other safe items for a dog to retrieve. The throwing apparatus includes: (1) a storage compartment for holding spare items such as spare tennis balls; (2) means for permitting stored items to rapidly dry; (3) a safety feature to prevent it from being used for throwing small sharp items; (4) a sling arrangement that permits easily throwing items a long distance; and (5) an apparatus that permits items to be picked up without either bending down or touching them with the hands.
In use, items to be thrown may be loaded in the storage compartment and later put in a projectile pouch one by one to throw them without touching them. Items that a dog retrieves may be picked up using the sling without touching the ball and it is automatically put into a storage compartment where it is exposed to air for drying purposes. The operator thus may throw the ball with the device a considerable distance and when it is retrieved, if the dog is trained to drop it, pick it up without touching it and keep it in the storage compartment until it is dry. In the meantime, a new projectile may be thrown. Moreover, a new projectile may be thrown, if necessary, if the dog does not release the projectile, in an effort to cause the dog to drop the last-retrieved item and retrieve the new projectile.
In the preferred embodiment, the throwing apparatus includes a projectile holder, a frame and a storage compartment. The projectile holder is designed to accommodate particular projectiles such as a tennis ball in the preferred embodiment and to reject others such as to reject small hard objects in favor of tennis balls. The storage compartment is a spring-loaded holder that may be used to pick up and store the projectiles. In the preferred embodiment, the frame is elongated and supports both a projectile throwing sling, and the storage compartment in a compact, easy to assemble construction where the projectile thrower and storage compartment share a common member between them on the elongated frame so that the spring-loaded storage compartment can conveniently reach from the hand of the user to the ground to pick up a tennis ball or other projectile. In the preferred embodiment, the projectile is picked up by pushing downwardly with the end of the storage compartment on top of the ball until the ball is forced inside and held by the spring-loaded holder. The projectile thrower in the preferred embodiment consists of elastomeric bands that serve as thrust bands. A pouch sized to receive a tennis ball holds the projectile on the elastomeric bands as the elastomeric bands are stretched and released to throw the projectile. The pouch has an opening in the center sized to so that sharp small objects fit through the hole and are not be usable with the pouch. Thus they are rejected and the dog exerciser cannot be turned into a dangerous weapon-like toy.
For convenient holding and aiming, the throwing apparatus includes a centrally located vertical cylindrical hand grip connected at its upper end to the combined wing-sight and thrust-band holder and connected at its lower end to an arm rest apparatus extending toward the user from the hand grip and ending in a curved member that may rest on top of the outstretched arm holding the hand grip. This permits sighting from the outstretched arm and provides room for the elastomeric thrust bands to be pulled back for convenient sighting and usage with small effort.
In use, the projectile, which in the preferred embodiment is a tennis ball, is pulled free from the spring-loaded holder. This may be done directly with the fingers but if the throwing apparatus is used as a dog exerciser, the projectile may have saliva on it. If the user wishes, the user may take the projectile holder which is a flexible piece of cloth and use it to pull the ball free by placing the ball in the projectile holder gripping it tightly and pulling it out of the spring-loaded holder. The projectile holder with the projectile in it is then pulled back towards the person on top of the frame and sighted through the wing sights forming the top of the projectile thrower. With the arm holding the hand grip outstretched and the arm rest on the top of the arm to steady the throwing apparatus, the projectile holder and projectile are pulled backward, stretching the elastomeric thrust bands. The projectile holder may then be released and the projectile will go towards its target. When used as a dog exerciser, the dog will normally drop what it is returning from the previous use and chase the projectile, fetching it and bringing it back to the user. The throwing apparatus cannot be misused by children or the like to throw sharp objects because of the opening in the projectile holder. It may however, be safely used to pick up projectiles that have been dropped on the ground and to throw the projectiles a substantial distance with very little effort.
From the above description, it can be understood that the throwing apparatus of this invention has several advantages, such as: (1) it may be used as a convenient pickup device without getting dog saliva on the hand or bending down; (2) it stores several projectiles in a manner in which they are exposed to air; (3) it is safe to use and cannot be used to throw dangerous objects; (4) it may be used with either arm because of the central location of the grip and its symmetry; and (5) it is economical to construct because of its symmetrical form and use of a common spring like member to form a wing sight, throwing mechanism holder and storage compartment.